Radiotherapy Centre – Skåne University Hospital

Radiation therapy equipment has conventionally been housed underground, confining cancer patients to spaces that lack daylight and exterior views. Skåne University Hospital’s Radiation Therapy Centre breaks the orthodoxy. Using light, art and alternative methods of construction, it provides a safe environment in an uplifting and hopeful atmosphere.

Turning the building upside down

The most important objective for the new oncology unit was to help patients facing the trauma of cancer treatment by creating a calm and pleasant environment. To protect from radiation exposure, radiotherapy rooms are generally located in isolation and below ground level. The design team turned this model upside down. Placing the equipment above ground necessitated a re-examination of layout, construction techniques and material choices, which included testing new formulas on concrete to ensure radiation absorption.

The ordered floor plan allowed for the placement of closed rooms at the middle. Moving concentrically outward and along the façade are the functional spaces that do not require full privacy or radiation protection. Where privacy is required, the rooms are designed with glass walls onto the corridors; the walls have clear glass at floor and ceiling levels and opaque obscured glass in between. Centrally located atria contribute to bringing additional daylight into the interiors. Apart from the health-promoting qualities of daylight, equipment maintenance is easily facilitated due to the above-ground location.

Rethinking the layout

Creating a light, bright environment is challenging for healthcare buildings which require closed rooms and privacy, but the physical act of having to descend underground to receive treatment does nothing to expel a patient’s anxiety. This seemed like the obvious first step when rethinking the layout.

Integrated into the radiotherapy rooms ceilings are light installations forming a colourful kaleidoscope of patterns, designed by the Swedish artist Aleksandra Stratimirovic.

Centrally located in the southern university town of Lund, Sweden, the Radiation Therapy Centre has become a vivid landmark due to the colourful mosaic cladding in various nuances of shimmering glass. This seemingly light façade cleverly conceals the complexity and challenges of construction. Areas of new building in thick concrete seamlessly share a new entrance that link to the older clinic next door.